No on Prop 8 - a simple matter of equal protection under the law

This went out via e-mail the other night to my e-mail address book:
_________________________________

Dear Friends, Family and Other Acquaintances,

I have never done this before, this being sending a message to my entire address book. I have thought long and hard about whether to send this message, I would prefer to not have to do it, but I feel as if I have been left with no choice but to do so.

You are receiving this message either because I know you, have known you, or because you have made it into my address book for one reason or another. If you are my brother you are receiving this message, if you are a comic who gave me your business card at a show, if you are in customer service at LandsEnd.com (Nu?! You thought I shopped at Saks?!), you are receiving this message. My intent is neither to offend nor intrude, but rather to inform, and I would most gratefully appreciate your taking the time to read this through.

I am asking you, if you are a California voter who has not yet voted, to remember to vote no on Proposition 8 this coming Tuesday, November 4.

Let me first tell you briefly what Proposition 8 is NOT, and then what it is.

Proposition 8 is NOT about same-sex marriage, and it is NOT about gay rights. It is NOT about what we teach or don’t teach our children in school, and it is most certainly NOT about what someone does, or doesn’t do, in his or her bedroom.

Proposition 8, if passed, would eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. It is about denying one group of people equal protection under the law, and about amending the California state constitution to legalize discrimination, to relegate one group of people to second-class status. It is nothing more, and it is nothing less. And, in my humble opinion, I can’t think of anything scarier and more un-American than that.

I ask you, please, to vote no on Proposition 8 and, if you are able, to donate to the No on 8 campaign, at http://www.noonprop8.com/.

If you are offended by this message, please be assured that the offense is unintentional, and please accept my apology. But, at the same time, please understand that I am offended by Proposition 8. I am offended almost every day of my life, and even more so during election season, by liars, frauds and propagandists who have never met me but at the same time profess to be experts on who I am and how I live my life. I am offended by those people talking about me as if I were some abstract concept, and not a real human being. And I must tell you that I am offended, and appalled, by the amount of money that has been poured into this divisive, discriminatory measure, mostly by out-of-state so-called religious groups, money that could easily have gone to provide food or clothing for people in need, textbooks for public schools and so much more. Moreover, I am saddened by the amount of money that the No on 8 campaign has had to raise in turn, to counter these efforts to legalize discrimination. In the past month, I have donated close to $100 to No on 8. For those of you who know me, that is a lot of money for me to put out in one month. But, as I said above regarding the sending of this message, I feel as if I have had absolutely no choice but to donate whatever I reasonably could, and then a little more on top of that.

That’s all I can say at this point. Many of you who know me well know that I can be rather long-winded at times, more so when discussing an issue about which I am especially passionate, in this case equal protection under the law. I have tried to keep this as short as I possibly could. I thank you for your time, your consideration, and your support in this matter, and I wish you nothing but the best.

Kenny Altman
San Francisco, California
October 29, 2008